The update enables users to opt in to sharing data about their age, symptoms, preexisting health conditions, possible exposure risks and other personal information.
With this new update, Apple seeks to improve COVID-19 screening protocols by sharing information with the CDC and public health agencies, but may need to be more transparent about its data-sharing practices to garner widespread participation from users.
The tech giant has said that the personal data would be deidentified but has not revealed how it goes about that process. A poll released in May by the University of Maryland and The Washington Post revealed that 57 percent of respondents do not trust Apple and Google to keep their COVID-19 data anonymous.
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